Global warming has fuelled interest in the enormous potential of untold riches which are believed to be hidden beneath the Arctic tundra and has exacerbated fears that Canada's sovereignty could melt away as quickly as the icebergs.

The focal point of these fears is the mythical Northwest Passage waterway, which has been sought by explorers risking their lives for centuries to open up a new trade route.

Scientists say that if the melting of Arctic ice continues unabated, the mythical passage could become a reality within 15 to 40 years - opening up a shipping route which would cut thousands of kilometres from routes that currently rely on the Suez or Panama canals.

"I do think we play a very important sovereignty role just by being in Canada's High Arctic," said Major Chris Dannehl, commanding officer of Canadian Forces Station Alert.

Built with pre-fabricated units in the 1950s, on the edge of Ellesmere Island, the Alert base could pass for a space station - except it is a dot on the vast Arctic ice desert, 817 kilometres (519 miles) from the North Pole and accessible only by air.

Unlike US military bases in Alaska and Greenland, Canada's northernmost listening station is not a heavily armed outpost designed for the physical defence of the nation. But the military personnel, who normally spend six months at a time on rotation here, know they contribute in their own essential way to Canada's security.

"Having people in Alert is a very clear indication that we are, in fact, using the island and so we have a form of control," said Rob Huebert, associate director of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies at the University of Calgary.

But this Arctic expert also warns that even if a base on the 82nd parallel satisfies Canada's claims on the Great North, overall measures taken by Ottawa to defend the territory are insufficient.

Until now, surveillance of the vast Arctic tundra, where the caribou outnumber humans, has rested largely with the Rangers, a paramilitary force composed largely of local Inuit carrying out long patrols all over the Canadian polar region, planting the Canadian flag around the outer perimeters of Canada's north.

But this could all change in the near future.

Last month, in a presentation of his government's programme to parliament, Prime Minister Paul Martin listed the Arctic among his main priorities.

In a controversial development in the 1950s, the Canadian government transplanted Inuit communities to Resolute Bay, on Cornwallis Island, and Grise Fjord, on Ellesmere Island - two outposts for a possible seaway which could soon open thanks to the ice meltdown.

Canada has always claimed sovereignty over the waters of the archipelago, a claim never recognized by several other nations, including its powerful neighbour, the United States.

These countries could decide to challenge Ottawa's claims before the world court, claiming the Northwest Passage should be recognized as an international waterway, similar to the Bosphorous Strait.

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

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